Recent Fraud Attempts on SERS Retirees

SERS has recently been made aware of fraudulent attempts to gather personal and financial information from retirees through text messages and emails.   The fraudulent text messages and emails promise to provide monthly benefit payments up to 4 days early if a retiree completes a form with their personal financial information, including bank account information.  This is not a program or initiative offered by SERS or the State of Illinois and should be considered a scam. In addition, SERS will never text retirees requesting personal or financial information.

These emails appear to be legitimate as they may contain the SERS logo, branding, and other attempts to legitimize this fraudulent request. Emails sent to retirees may also appear to be legitimate since they originate from DocuSign, a popular electronic signature application.  SERS does not utilize DocuSign for direct deposit changes nor accept electronic signatures. All legitimate emails from SERS will come from an email address that ends with @srs.illinois.gov.  Any emails purporting to be from SERS that does not contain @srs.illinois.gov, should be considered fraudulent.

Please carefully review the examples below of the fraudulent emails and digital direct deposit forms involved in this scam.  If you receive a similar text or email, do not provide any information and contact SERS immediately at 217-785-7444.  If you have already provided your personal and financial information in response to this scam, you should contact your financial institution immediately and contact SERS.